![]() ![]() Olivier Barde-Cabuçon is a very skilled writer – I imagine. This is one in which the publishers are demonstrating great confidence.Īs they should. They don’t seem to care about the look of their books. Why does this matter? Because most publishers appear to look on books as mere commodities. Why? Because it shows that the publishers have taken pride in this book, and that they value it. I’ve wittered on about the book’s appearance for a while. Continuing with the feeling of a book that has been valued by its publishers, the cover has flaps which are folded back on themselves, so they have the appearance of a jacket on a hardback. The picture itself is framed as though it was an oil painting. A woman is visible some way ahead of him. The cover is glorious, a dark, grim red, with a mysterious figure in eighteenth century costume walking along a road, with the towers of a cathedral (Notre Dame?) in the distance. The pages are not the very best quality, but they are as good as a paperback should be – in other words, they’re the same quality as a book I would have bought in the 80s. In this sad age of print-on-demand, leading to thin covers, poor binding, and printing that I could do better on my laser printer at home, it is always a joy to receive a book that actually feels like a piece of quality when you pick it up. The was no hesitation about this book, however.įirst, a digression: it arrived superbly well presented. I don’t see it as my job to slag off the hard efforts of other writers. So I prefer to review books I like, giving the reasons why, and those books I don’t enjoy, I leave to people who who like them. There is a simple reason for this: as I have said plenty of times, I will not tend to review books I really dislike, because what I detest may well appeal enormously to other people. I read many books for reviews, but the sad fact is, not all get written up. I rarely turn down the chance of a review copy. Fortunately for me, Pushkin Vertigo got in touch about a new book they were launching, and offered a review copy. Last week I finished one book and was wondering what to try next. It is always a delight to discover a new author whose work is both refreshing and novel. ![]()
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